Medical Staff

As more hospitals publicize MD data, accuracy problems arise

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, Washington Post, August 8, 2007

While insurance companies, regulators, the general public, and hospitals more closely scrutinize physician performance data--and hospitals increasingly vow to share such information publicly--questions are being raised about the security and accuracy of the practice, according to a July 25 article in The Washington Post.

Physicians often raise red flags about errors in their profiles, the article states, yet frequently there is no recourse for the MDs to correct the data. In fact, critics of sharing physician performance data say the efforts are done largely to cut costs, not raise quality. The fear is that some doctors could "cherry pick" patients whose problems are less costly to treat.

 

As a result, publicly posted data on physicians could fail to portray the "intangibles of quality, such as a doctor who visits a dying patient at home," the article states.

 

To view the entire article (subscription required), go to:

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/24/AR2007072402545.html.

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